William Tilghman (1756 - 1827)
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| Relationship to the Speculation Lands: |
| A relative of the Coxe family, Tilghman was charged with monitoring and maintaining the
mortgage for the Speculation Lands and the trust
established for Tench Coxe by his father. |
| Biography: |
| William Tilghman was the Chief Justice of the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and one of the "midnight judges"
appointed by President Adams to the Third Circuit Court in 1801. He was the grandson of Tench Francis and
the brother of Tench Tilghman, a Revolutionary War soldier who served as
an aide-de-camp to General Washington at Valley Forge. Tench Tilghman
also served as secretary and treasurer to the Continental Congress in
1775. William, his younger brother, was a jurist in the county of Talbot
in Maryland. He moved to Philadelphia where he began to practice law in
1793. In 1801 he became Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court.. Like his friend, Stephen DuPonceau, Tilghman was also active in
the American Philosophical Society and served as its President from 1824
until his death in 1827. In 1809 he was directed by the Pennsylvania
state legislature to prepare a report on the English statutes in force
in Pennsylvania. A balanced judge, an advocate of children's rights,
keenly interested in agriculture and home industry, and unpretentious in
nature, he was by all accounts, an excellent choice to oversee the
tumultuous financial affairs of Tench Coxe. |
| Bibliography: |
| William Tilghman Papers, # 594, Manuscripts
Department, Library of the UNC at Chapel Hill, Southern Historical
Collection.
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